I was commissioned by the Globe and Mail earlier this month to take a portrait of Patrick Kabongo, an offensive lineman with the Edmonton Eskimos’ CFL football team. The story was about how much he volunteers and gives back to his community. Patrick is a 6-foot-6, 315 pound small C celebrity here in our northern city. Fans love him because of how he plays on the field but he’s also known for his personality. Every time I’ve seen him he usually sports a huge smile or a great laugh. But, he seemed almost serene in every photo I took of him.

Patrick and his family fled the African city of Kinshasa in 1982 when the Zaire government was battling rebel forces in a bloody conflict. He came to Canada and grew up in Montreal and got started in football through an organization that runs sports programs for underserved children. He ended up playing at Vanier College and then to Nebraska University. Sometimes we forget that these athletes playing in our CFL are all top ranked football players coming from prestigious US football schools.

The Technical Stuff: This portrait involved three lighting scenarios. I used my Nikon D700 with a 50mm f/1.4 for the blue photo and a Nikon D300 and the 17-55mm lens for the other two. The first photo is obvious, with two Nikon speed lights with white shoot thru umbrellas on either side. I also use a Honl 1/8 grid on a Nikon SB900 for very focused lighting on his face (for both lit photos). In the third photo I put the speed lights behind him. BTW, that’s the roof he’s holding on to.